Here's a brief exchange of Qs and As between myself and the person who located the hammer. It provides background and details on the discovery, and more. This find has helped the case tremendously, as anyone with a brain understands!

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Q- How long have you been a detectorist? (I believe 'detectorist' is the actual term for the hobby/profession- you should watch the recent BBC sitcom called "The Detectorists". Hilarious. I watched the entire series about three days before you contacted me, which made your mention of metal detectors unnerving and bizarre. In my six years 'on the case', not one mention of a metal detector- then you show up! Too many coincidences in this case.)

A- I've been a detectorist for about 3 years. I started with a cheap little Whites detector years before but it broke and didn't get back into it. Then someone really close got me into finding gold with them. So I decided to purchase my first more expensive detector. The one I bought I'd rate it about a 5 for the "VLF" (very low frequency) class detector, was a 8 rating when purchased. We won't get into all the different types of detecting and detectors.

Q- When did you originally discover the hammer? Did you find anything else that day? Just a Q about whether the day turned out good, because finding the hammer may have seemed like "trash bummer".

A- I found the hammer two years ago, was a really dry summer. Asked permission to detect the town and was told no. The owners were nice enough to offer the pond area because its out of the way. They told me a crazy broad threw an engagement ring in the pond.... Of course I want to detect the pond right? Didn't find anything much of value, lots of trash metal, coins, a ******* and a hammer.

Q- When you found the hammer, how familiar were you with the Keddie Murders? Tell me how familiar you are with Keddie, and the region in general. You seemed not to make any connection between the murders and the hammer originally, and many people would love to hear this angle of your story/history.

A- Yes I knew about the murders and a hammer was used. First thing I thought of. I placed the hammer and all the other big items on the bank. Us detectorist's take everything we find trash or not and fill our holes in. We do so because we'd like to return. I forgot the hammer and other stuff so it stayed until now. 6 in deep in the deepest part of the pond I dug the hammer and *******.

Q- What exactly caused you to eventually connect the hammer to the murders?

A- The connection was there and I'd been kicking the thought around but it sounds crazy.

Q- How/why did you choose to approach me, rather than LE? Had you chosen to first alert LE, who would you have called? PCSO? A friend in LE? Etc.

A- I heard they we're reopening the case so I just started browsing and I found Dmac. Asked a question about a hammer, and shortly after was meeting Gamberg to find my old find.

Q- How deep was the hammer when you initially discovered it? My understanding from Mike is that silt had settled from where you discarded it, but what I'm asking is when you originally found it. Ignore this if you've directly answered it in a similar Q.

A- I contacted Dmac because he has nothing to do with the sheriff's department. I'll leave it at that.

Q- Can you go into detail about how you contacted Mike, set up a meeting, and watched him almost go for a swim? Your reaction to finding it again? How long did it take to rediscover? "I know EXACTLY where I left it!" Mike's reaction? He must have been over the damned moon~!

A- Took us 10 min to find it. Was kinda far out in the pond and Gamberg almost went swimming early this year dragging it out.

I knew about the Keddie murders for years but not detail until Dmac informed me and I've been studying it. Truth is, I'm paranoid now. Mob connected, crooked cops, crooked doj mob connection and who knows what else. Hagwood said himself he's not a conspiracy theorist. Well neither am I but something is fishy.

sparkplug wrote:What's a xxxxxxx, or is that a spelling error? xxxxxxxxx? There's that object that Sue was struck with that hasn't been identified, except for the theory of it being a gunstock. This is why I ask.

He put the hammer on the bank, bagged up all the remaining garbage he'd found and walked off leaving the hammer lying on the bank?

I wish you'd prodded him some more. A hobbyist who takes his hobby seriously is in an area notorious for a brutal quad murder. He is aware of this and he is aware of the hammers as murder weapons, and he asks permission to look for buried stuff. He finds a buried hammer, uncharacteristically forgets to haul it off, and then forgets he found it. For a while. His memory is jogged when he hears that (They) are reopening the case but he doesn't think to contact (Them) and instead he's savvy, or informed, enough to poke around the internet before contacting the authorities.

I can't say i'm suspicious, i mean i know perfectly well what it's like to have one's story picked apart here and it's hard to explain why my stories don't always fit neatly into the boxes of other people's expectations. But this story hasn't sat well with me since i first heard about it. Too coincidental, for one thing. These details as presented don't make it settle any better.

Also i think you've got some of your Q's and A's out of sequence, and i would also like to know what a xxxxxxx is.

Here's the deal with the answers seeming out of context or order. I asked several Qs, many of them similar or even overlapping. The man has very limited time, and answered as best he could, but due to my similar Qs, his answers could often be replies to three Qs at once. This was all done by text, not by phone, so the limitations are always present.

It's important to note when he first found the hammer, he was very aware of the murders but was also under the belief only one hammer was used and it had been recovered at the scene. It was around the time he found the blue-handled hammer that I began promoting my understanding that TWO HAMMERS were used.

Fast forward two years, Plumas News releases the article about progress, and he suddenly realizes the hammer may be worth mentioning. He finds the Keddie site, finds me on my FB page, and we chat about a few things before he feels okay about mentioning the hammer.

It was a very cautious and genuine exchange, in my opinion.

PS I've sent off an email to PCSO about XXXXXXXX and will post results here. I've deleted it for now just for caution's sake.

I just got word from PCSO that it's not a hold and 'firing pin' from an AR-15 is what was found by the detectorist. He named it as a firepin- same deal. When PCSO hit the pond with a followup team, they couldn't locate it but found about 20 pounds of other stuff.

yeah, but my thinking is if Bo brought a gun to a knife fight, he'd destroy the weapon- even if not used in the attack- to distance himself from said weapon and other crimes it's associated with. That was my sole sticking point about hiding the info as a possible key. Good logic both ways. but mine was extraordinary while yours was pedestrian! It's usually the other way around.

So, was weapon #4 used for staging? I see no definitive answer in any of the autopsy reports. If the hammer in the pond was used in the murders, was it dumped ASAP and in a panic, while weapon #4 was brought in later, and removed when cooler heads prevailed?

This probably is a stupid question, and has probably been addressed for obvious reasons (can't find the question being presented anywhere in the forum), but has weapon 4# been discussed as possibly being a tire iron? Circular shaped wounds would make sense.

And why would MS mention his hammer was missing? Scared because he ditched it so close to home? I guess we will find out soon enough.

MS was hoping to move the attention away from him I think. And also during the interview, like when he said the stuff about what he would do if he killed someone. He wouldn't be messy about it. He would go in and do it, and get out. All of that, in my opinion, was "See it wasnt me, I would do it all opposite to the way it was done."

shells, Marty was talking directly to Bo's influence and how he wanted to kill and leave. He thought they spent too much time in 28 and that it was an incredibly stupid fuckup to take so long. It means he knew of and participated in Bo's staging, but he wanted to go in, kill, and jump town.

Read further into Marty's words and some of the staging was his game.

Don't believe a confession at face value. Almost all killers are liars with excuses. Count Marty as a huge pussy.

Mark Joseph is the best bet we have to a DNA match to Bo, and it's been one blind alley after another. Any help or angle is appreciated, so long as it's done respectfully and behind-the-scenes. Mark Joseph may not know it, but he's yet another victim of Bo. Please contact me via email concerning questions, allegations, results. You're in to offline talk, because the main thing is not to mention the wrong names online.

DMac- it is Budr, lost my account so a friend gave me theirs. Honesty n integrity Alot of speculation about the pond. How well is viable evidence preserved under water? I'm not doubtful of the source. I am thankful for the courage to say something, anything but the same ole song n dance. To say I'm curious about who is n who isn't on the list of 6 would be a lie. I am praying for resolution for the survivors and justice for those involved. Instead of picking metal detector apart, thank you for your courage!!

Thank you Dmac for fixing this for me!! I have been going crazy relying on other people for info! I have my list of 6. I am fairly confident that it's pretty close to the right perps too. I honestly don't want to say anything about it to preserve the case.

I was thinking that baby of Bo's that died might be a source of DNA for testing. It was involve an exhumation....but that has crossed my mind. Is Mark Joseph living or it that the name of the deceased child???